' , fife ill .f iiif ; litale. Two Dollars per Annum. HENRY A. PArtSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDUM. NO. 17. ' VOL. VII. MDGrWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 1877. The Empty Cradle. Bad Is the heart of the mother, Who sits by the lonely hearth, Where never again the children Shall 'waken their songs of mirth, And still through the painful silence She listens for voice and tread j Outside of the heart there only She knows that they are not dead 1 Here is the desolate cradle, The pillow so latoly pressed, But far away haa the birdling Flown from its little nest. Crooning the lullalies over That once were her babe's dolight, All through the misty spaces Sho follows its upward flight. Little she thought of a moment So gloomy and sad as this, When close to her heart Bhe gathered Her child for its good-night kiss. She should be tenderly cherished, Never a grief Bhould she know ; Wealth, and the pride of a princess, These would a mother bestow. And this is the darling's portion In heave i where she has fled ; By angels securely guarded, By angels securely led. Brooding in sorrowful silence Over the empty nest, Can you not sco through the shadows Why it is all for the best? Better the heavenly kingdom Than riches of earthly crown, Better the early morning flight Than one when the sun is down ; Better an empty casket, Thau jewels besmirched with Bin j Safer than theBe without the fold Are those that have entered in THE BIRD'S MISSION. Elmside, the summer residence of the Morti mers, is situated on the banks of the Hudson, in one of the most beautiful spots of a region celebrated for the loveliness of its scenery. . At the close of a sultry summer day the family assembled on the lawn to enjoy the soft breeze, just cool enough to bo refreshing, which gently stirred the leaves of tree and vine. The family party consisted of live mem bers : Mr. Mortimer, senior, a gentleman of sixty, with quite silvery hair and beard, and a countenance where pride and goodness were equally visible; his son, Royal Mortimer, a fine looking man of thirty-live, bearing a great re scinbliince to his father, and Mrs. Mortimer, a graceful lady of thirty, with their two children, Lillian ami Willie. Willie was a noblo-lookinp l;ul of twelve, and his sister, two years younger, was a sueet, pit asnnt-faced little girl, quite small for her age. On this cv niug Lillian and Willio wen amusing themselves with the sportive tricks ol a lively little spaniel that was Will's favorite pet. Mrs. Mu tinier seated herself on a rustic bench villi a bi ok in her hand, but was ap parently moro interested in the scene aroum her than in its pnge. The elder Mr. Morthnei and hi son had sauntered down tho broad path to tlio gate, and leaned upon it, talking together busily. While they stood there, a jittle gill, apparently about the age of Lillian, passed along the road quite near them. She was dressed very pla'ulv but neatly, aud had a face of dilicate, sensitive beauty "as rare as it was phasing. She carried a parcel on one arm, and m her hand a bouquet of beautiful flowers. The gold.m-brown hair fell around her neck in Boft loose curls, aiid as she passed the two gen tlemen she lifted to them a pair of dreamy deep blue eyes shaded by long dark lashes Her momentary glance was returned bv such an eager, spellbound look from the older gen tleman that her own lids drooped in modest confusion, and a blush mounted to her cheek. After watching her out of sight, Mr. Mortimer turned to his sou wilh an expression of dsepest sadness on his noble features. It needed no explanation to unable Itoyal Mortimer to under stand the reason for this'. "Her eyes were like Annie's j did you not think so V" asked ho. " They seemed Annie's own," was tho reply, given in a trembling voice. " Oh, when shall I cease to suffer for that one act of injustice ? Itoyal! I would willingly give all my fortune if I could only undo the past. No day goes by that the shadow does not creep into it, and blot out all the brightness. No night finds me sleeping peacefully with a happy heart. Itoyal, I Bhould go mad if I did not cherish a faint hope that I shall yet rind her, and make amends, as far as I can, for what I have done. That is mv greatest object in lite." The son had listened with an emotion cor responding to that of the speaker, and now asked : " What news did you receive from your last advertisement ? You know I was away at tho time, and have not had a chance to ask you before, except in the presence of the children." " Nothing definite," replied his father, sadly. "There has been a person of the name in S , but ho died, and his family removed from the place. No clew can be discovered to their where abouts, I tell you, Itoyal, the thought of Annie, alone in tho world, aud perhaps reduced to the utmost misery of poverty, is enough to craze nie, when here am I, with wealth at my command, and yet powerless to relieve her." Looking at tlio sorrowful and even anguished faces of the two men standing there in the gathering sumnier twilight, you would never have thought them the happiest of mortals, even though they did live in au " earthly para dise." Let us go back a few hours, and follow the steps of the child whose beautiful eyes recalled such bitter memoi ies to Mr. Mortimer and his son. Passing along with a light tread, she came, after a half hour's walk, to a little cot tige, iu front of which was a small yard con taining some carefully tended beds of flowers. Lifting tho latch of the gate she went quickly up the path, and glanced with a bright smile through an open window where a still young and beautiful woman was sitting, at the same time holding up her bouquet. The enthusiastic girl had not noticed at first her mother's face was deathly pale, and that, as she lay back in her chair with closed eyes, tears which she could not conceal stole from under her long lashes. " Why. darling mamma, what is the matter?" she cried, in distress, as she saw these tokens of grief. Forcing a smile to ber quivering lips, Mrs. Howe opened her eyes, full of lovelight, on her daughter, and answered with an effort at cheer fulness : " I havo rather a bad headache, dear, but I hope it will be better soon. Your flowers are very lovely, and Mrs. Burt is always kind. What is this ?" taking up some bills that the "child had placed in her lap. " Oh, that' is the pay for the embroidery. Mrs. Burt said she might have to send after it, and she would rather trust the money with me than with a servant." Lena told her how she had walked through Mrs. Burt's large conservators, feasting her eyes on the rare luxuriance of flowers. "There wore many beautiful little birds, mother, all free to go where they pleased, and they sang so sweetly it made me think of ' Pick.' " And a sad look flitted across her face as she glanced at an empty bird cag that wag hanging in the porch with" its door open, as if waiting for au occupant. " Lick " had been Lena's pet canary, and the solace of many a lonely hour. But one day the little yellow wings spread out helplessly, the bright eyes grew dim aud poor Dick breathed his last m the hand of his sobbing voung mis tress. Since then, Lena had kept Lis cage in its usual place, and the door wide open, "for who knows," she would ay, "what may hap pen ' 1'erhaps tho Lord may aend me another bird." Mrs. Burt, she knew, would have given her one, but the proud child would not ask the favor of a friend who had already done commit for hor, and t e kind lady knew nothing of Lena's loss. The next morning dawned bright and beauli fu on tho luxurious homo of the Mortimers, us well as the humble cot where lived tho seam stress and her child. Lillian at F.liuside, (in I Lena at the cottago. both arose with libt hearts aud happy smiles, but grief and CRro op pressed some of the older members of the two families. After breakfast Lillian went into the pleasant sitting-room and amused herself with tho cun ning ways of her canary, letting it out of its cage. It was a very tamo, intelligent bird, and would sit perched on her finger, hop on her shoulder, and even put its little bill between her lips with seeming affection. Lillian loved it, as you may imagine, and no dainty was too difficult to get or term of endearment tender enough fur tho little song-ter. The windows of the room were all closed so that " l'uunio" might fully enjoy his freedom, and bo Hew and fluttered around almost like a wild bird. A servant came hastily into the apartment and left the door ajur; out flew Bonnie, and tho nearest window gave him access to tho open air. Lena wns out among her flower beds, and raised her head just as a bird alighted on the fence. She almost screamed with delight. "Oh," she thought, "that looks just like a canary, and perhaps he will go into my cage." She' kept very still, and after a little flutter sing and hesitancy " Bonnie Mortimer " hopped into the cage and began to eat seeds. Then Lena gently closed the door, and she had him safe. "Mother, mother," she oried, running in, " tho Lord has sent me a bird, just as I thought He would." On the morning of the fifth day after the loss of Bonnie, Lillian's grandfather proposed to her to take a ride across the country with him on horseback. She gladly consented, and they were soon cantering away in the direction of Lena's home. As they came near they saw Lena standing on the porch playing and talking with her bird. Mr. Mortimer recognized her as tho child who had affected him bo much one night os she passed his gate, but Lillian Baw oniy tho bird. "Why, grandpa, that looks just like Bonnie !" she cried, so loudly that Lena heard her. " Hush !" Baid " Mr. Mortimer, in a vexed tone, "the little lady will hear you." And he would have cone forward, but Lillian stopped, determined to see the bird that looked so much like the one she had lost. The moment Lena heard Lillian's words she felt sure that tho dreaded time had come when she must say good-bve to her treasured pet : so she was not surprised when she saw Lillian dismount and come through the gate toward her. " Excuse me," said Lillian, with a pleasant smile, " but your bird looks bo much like one I lost a few days ago that I thought I must come end Bee it. Isn't it funny that they should bo so much alike ?" When Bonnie heard his mistress' voico he knew it, and began to sing little chirping notes as he always did when sho was near. Toor Lena kept back her sorrow ae well as she could and said : '1'ei'haps this is really your bird, for it is ono that came and sat on the fence a few days ego and then went into tho cage. I hud a bird and it died, so I have let the cage hang hero with the door opt n ever since. Mother said perhaps the owner of t e bird would come by, and I have let it hang out iu sight all the time. You must love him ever so much, ond I'm glad you've found him," sho added, heroically. Mr. Mortimer, finding Lillian oetermined to see the bird, had also come to the door, and m the tears which would well in Lena's eyes, spite of all sho could do. Declining her invitation to enter the house. Lillian and her grandfather turned to go away. Suddenly Mr. Mortimer stopped, and asked Lena whoso face possessed a strange charm tor him, if sho would tell him her name. "Lena Howe," said the child, smilingly. At the Bound of her namo Mr. Mortimer rew deadly palo, and grasped his riding whip convulsively. Jut then Mrs. Howe appeared in the porch calling Lena, and ignorant of the presence of the vititors, whom she had not seen enter the vaid. The first sight that met her view was l.ena stuuding beforo tho door, and by her tide, regarding her with mingled hope and de spair, a tall, gray headed man of noble prcs i nee, whose kindly features, though now con vulsed with anxiety, were to ber like a vision from heaven. Springing forward with outstretched hands f-he cried: "Oh, father!" and fell into his arms. The rapture of that meeting cannot be ex pressed in words, but its memory will always ti ess the hearts of the two who were thus united after long years of mutual suffering. The mystery is soon explained. Mrs. Howe was the only daughter of Mr. Mortimer, the light of his eyes and pride of his heart. Beau tiful and winning, sho attracted many ad mirers, and among them Ellis Howe, a young artist who had no inheritance but his genius a nd great charm of manne r. The young girl married against tho will of her father, and was commanded to leave tho borne of her youth never to return. For that hour of pride and anger Mr. Mortimer suffered jears of self torture. The discarded daughter, wounded and nad t heart indeed, but still comforted by the love of her husband, had gone wit h him to a distant town. Then the strength of Ellis Howo failed, t lirough overwork aud exposure, and after a fhort illness he died, leaving his wife and little child penniless. Since that time Mrs. Howe liRd supported herself and daughter by tho work of her needle. But she hud struggled on, and at last her trials wero over anil the lovo she had longed for was her own. Lena and her mother immediately removed to Elmside, where the wannest welcome was given them by Itoyal Mortimer aud his wile. The children wero tho best of friends, and Willie declared confidentially to Lillian that Lena was the nicest girl he ever saw. A Wonderful Tim'piece. Theodore Rohrer, u wntciirnnker of Newcastle, has iu vented a piece of mech anism which is thus described : It con sists of a set of gold studs, in one of which is a miniature watch, which keeps excellent time. The combined weight of the two studs and watch, which are connected together, is one and one-half ounces. The face of the watch is about the size of a silver three-cent piece, and witli its surroundings of gold it looks much like a small compass. When the watch and studs are on the shirt front they are about two inches apart, and by turning the upper one (in the same man ner that a stem winding watch is wound) tho timepiece is wound. Iu setting the hand the lower stud is revolved. The most remarkable thing about the time piece is that it is not like ordinary watches, but has a dial resembling that of a clock. The pendulum will move correctly in whatever position the watch is placed, even when it is reversed and run at ths top instead of the bottom. In Memory of the Sergeant. A Brit ish color sergeant, shot down and over run by the enemy, once seized in his mouth a corner of the Aug, and his teeth locked upon it in the rigidity of death. The enemy cut it away from him, leaving a bit of it between his fixed teeth. Subsequently the standard wns retaken, and ever since tho flag of that regiment is made with that little piece carefully cut out, in memory of the sergeant who was buried with the fragment in his rdouth. " I say, doctor, what'i become of your dog ?" ' Why, he attempted to eat a hole through my leg, arid before he got through he died suddenly of concussion of the brain," said the doctor, suggestively shaking his heavy walking tick. ELEPHANTS AISD MILK. Wlieic tlio First Amrrlrnn iHrnnwrlc 'M OrKnnizeil. In the town of Homers, not many miles l ack in the country from Pcekskill, N. Y., is a hotel that litis always hud a local reputation from its title us the "Ele phant Hotel." Mr. John Codmnn tells very pleasantly the story of this hotel, as he learned it while on a horseback trip through that section, some years ago. He says : A lively gallop soon brought mo twelve miles on my way easterly, over the hills, to the little village of Somors t wn. Like n frent raMi on (ho Rhine with its two or three adjacent appurten ances, n liinjo brick hotel looms up among the few small houses in its neigh borhood. This seemed disproportionate, but my curiosity was particularly at tracted by an immense statue of an ele phant, nearly as large as life I mean tlio life-size of a small elephant, of course. This remarkable resemblance to the animal was mounted on a high post before the door of tho hotel, aud painted over the front of tho building i rend, in enormous letters: "Elephant Hotel." It was time to breathe my horse, and the ride had given me an appetite for anything I might rind within, even if it should prove to be au elephant steak. The landlord observed that " the women folks were not at home, but he guessed he could find something." He accordingly placed a cold turkey and a bottle of Lou don porter on the table, and thus proved that his guess was very correct. As ho sat down by my side I asked him the meaning of nil his elephantine display. "Why," he answered, " Hackaliah Bayley built this house himself !" ''' Hackaliah Bayley ! Who was he ?" . " Who was Hackaliah Bayley 1 Don't you know ? He was the man who im ported the first elephant into these United States old Bet ; of course you have heard of old Bet?" " No, I have not." "What, never heard of old Bet! Well, sir, you are pretty well along in life. Where have you been all your clays ?" I told him I had not spent them all in Westchester county. "I should rather think not," replied the landlord, "or else you'd have heard of Hackaliah Bayley and old Bet Eight here, from this very spot, he started the first show in the country. Bight round hei e is where they breed and winter wild animals to this day. Folks round here have grown rich out of the show busi ness. There's men in this town that have been to Asia and Africa to get ani mals. Hackaliah imported old Bet, and that wasn't more than fifty or sixty years ago. Yes, sir, Hackaliah began on the (lie she-elephant. He aud a boy were all tho company. They traveled nights and showed daytimes. Old Bet sho knew l ow much every bridge in the country would bear before she put her foot npon it. Bimebv thev cot a cage of monkeys and carted them along, aud gradually it got up to bears, lions, tigers, camels, boa constrictors, alligators, Tom Thumb, hippopotamuses and the fat-woman in fact, to where it is now. Yes, sir, P. T. Bamum got the first rudiments of his education from Hackaliah Bayley right here in SoHierstown. Elephants and milk have made this town. Iu fact, we all live on elephants and milk." "Elephants aud milk! Good gra cious 1" I exclaimed ; " what a diet !" "Sir," retorted the landlord, "did you think I meant that wo crumbled ele phants into milk and ate 'em ? No ; I mean to say that the elephant business and the milk business are what have built up this place. I've told 3'ou what elephants have done for us, and now I'll tell you what milk has done. There's farmers round here owning a hundred cows apiece. From the little depot of Purdy's you'll pass a mile beyond this w e seud four thousand gallons of milk every day to New York ; and it starts from here pure, let me tell you, for we are honest, if we are brought up in the show' business. Then right in our neigh borhood are two condensed milk fac tories, where they use as much more. There's eight thousand gallons. The farmers get six cents a quart on tho spot. So you see there is a revenue of twelve hundred and eighty dollars a day to this district. Now you've been telling me a,bout the West, how they raiso forty bushels of wheat to the acre, and all that. Well, what does it amount to by the time you get your returns, paying all out in railroad freight? You ride along this afternoon, and if you come back this way, tell me if tho houses and fixings and things, especially the boys, and more particularly the gals, look any better in them diggings thau they do here, if we do live on elephants and milk." The Humble Tramp. "Gimme a square meal, won't ye?" asked the brazen faced tramp, stepping into a Chicago restaurant. " No, sir," sternly replied the pro prietor. "Gimme a handful of grub?" con tinued the tramp. " Not any get out ! said the owner. " Gimme a cracker ?" " Not a bit move along " cried the restaurant man. " Lemme lick a spoon ?" "Git out I" impatiently yelled the restaurateur. " Lemme take a toothpick?" " Nothing, I say 1" screamed the eating-house party. And as the door slammed on the tramp's back he stood and looked wist fully at the steam gathered on the inside of the plate glass, and he muttered : " I wish I had asked that man if I could a sniffed of them winders." Chicago Evening Journal. Gems from Schiller. Eternity gives nothing back. The May of life only blooms onco. Opposition inflames the enthusiast, never converts him. It is not flesh and blood, it is the heart that makes us fathers and sons. Be noble-minded 1 Our own heart, and not other men's opinions of us, forms our true honor. Happy child 1 The cradle is still to thee a vast space ; become a man aud the boundless world will be too small to thee. FAKM, HARDEN AM) HOUSEHOLD. Henna and their Culture. Tho present high prices of beans are probably turning tho attention of many others besides your correspondent N. H., to their culture. Medium beans, w hich a little more than a year ago sold at G270o. per bushel, are now worth four times that price, 0 greater advance than has been made iu any other crop. High prices of potatoes always direct attention to beans as a partial substitute, and tlio threatened war iu Europe has had some thing more to do in establishing the ad vance. Still, at '& per bushed, beans nre ti paying crop, and tho price is mil likely soon to go below that. Medium bean's are the kind most largely grown here. Ihey sell somewhat lower Hum marrows, but are a surer crop, and have the advantage of ripening all it I the same time if planted on uniformly rich and dry soil, 'lliis last is very im portant, as where some portions of tlio Held are richer or n.oistor than others they will bo more or less uneven in ripening, largely increasing tho cost of gathering. Foorly ripened beans will stain and become worthless. This in volves tho extra labor of picking out tho poor beans, which must bo done by hand, and is a slow and tedious process. It is mostly douej where many beans are grown, by children, though sometimes women are hired for this work. In western New York beans are grown in large fields, planted by machines which drop and cover in hills ten or twelve inches apart, and rows two feet to thirty inches wide. Unless tho land is very weedy, most of tho work is done by the cultivator, a narrow implement just fitted for this purpose. Beans Bhould not be cultivated when their leaves or the ground is wet, as such cul tivation does more harm than good. It is also better not to throw tho earth nrouud the hills with the cultivator. The bean leaf is broad and the stalk tender, so that dragging the field when just coming up,' as is done with corn, is not admissible. A clover sod, two years old, where a rank growth of clover has grown the previous year, is best for beans, as such soil will generally be free from weeds. Nothing is gained by planting early. A week or ten days Inter than corn planting is better than earlier. Hereabouts beans are mostly planted from the first to the twentieth of June. Your Indiana correspondent should select the time for planting, so that the crop would naturally ripen dur ing the dry weather. If delayed too late it is bod harvesting here, and would be almost impossible'on the deep loam of the prairies aftc heavy rains begin. As a rule, mucky soil is not suited to this crop, but I know uo reason why beans would not do well on any dry loam or sand. A general idea is that rich soil is nnsmted to beans, but this is-a mistake, Dry and rich soil is the best, producing larger crops, ana maturing lliem early and uniformly. Where bean planters cannot be had, the crop is often put in with a drill. closing enough tubes to allow room for cultivating between. As beau roots do not spread widely, the closer they are planted with the .above limitation, the better the crop. When well grown beans should cover the ground. A crop of this kind should reach thirty, forty, or more bushels ; fifteen to twenty- five is considered a good average. Tho stalks are excellent for sheep, fed with other forage, and will bo eaten by horses and cattle alter a little practice. It n coarse but nutritious food, but better for sheep than for anything else. iioans have proved an exhausting crop. contrary to the general expectation of those who began growing. This is ono reason why they are not now cultivated as largely as they wero a lew years ago. They do not return much to the soil, and the beans sold carry off as many ele ments of fertility as an average crop of wheat. They are also a poor crop to precede wheat, partly because they leave the soil too light and loose to hold wheat roots during the winter. A common practice in this county is to follow beans with barley or oats, and seed with wheat the year after. This rotation insures three good grain crops, and a good catch ot clover following. The White Wax bean inquired about by your coriespondent is chiefly used for garden culture to supply string beans. If he can get a contract for it from some seedsman, lie can make it proti table otherwise not. It will not yield "forty bushels per acre witli any ordinary cul ture. Both White and Bluck Wax beans are very difficult to get from the pod, which increases the cost 01 growing tnem. ir. J. J:, in Country Uentla man. Recipes. Stewed Calf's Liver. Choose 1 light colored liver, and cut incisions into it, in which put strips of very sweet bacon ; put in a stew pan a quarter of a pound of butter ; when melted and boil ing hot add a teaspoonful of flour, and stir until a light brown color, when place iu it the liver, turning it over and around until it is cooked a little on all sides ; then add a pint of water, a squeezo 01 lemon mice, a sprig of parsley, some summer savory, a bay leaf and about a doz en very small young onions, salt and pep per ; simmer very slowly one hour : dish with the gravy strained and poured over it : you can mince the liver adding small piece of isinglass, dissolved, or a spoonful of gelatine and add it to the gravy ; pour over the minced liver, stir- Vl'ncr nil tnrriiav miffiiiiy inf a rvirJil leaving until cold, when turn out for lunch or supper. Cream Cake. Four cupfuls flour. three cupfuls sugar, one of cream, five eggs, one teaspoon! ul sftda. Sweet Rusks. Oue quart new milk. three tablespoonfuls yeast, flour to make a thick batter j mix at night, aud in the morning add one cupful fresh lard and one cupful sugar rubbed together, three eggs well beaten, preserving the white of one ; boat this to a stiff froth ; add a little sugar, and spread over the top, They are excellent. Jumbles. One cupful butter, two cupfuls sugar, one cupful sour milk, one egg, soda, nutmeg, Hour enough to mold, Green Corn Fritters. Grate a suf ficieut number of ears of ripe corn to make a nuart : rub together quarter of a pound of butter, quarter of a pound of sugar, and three tablespoonfuls flour, a pmch 01 salt ; but inw wis one quart; 01 rich milk, eight eggs, well beaten, nnd lastly the grated corn j if not thick enouirh a little more 11011 r may lie auitoii fry in hot butter, or bake in a pudding i .linn. xim limy jiiiiuu jmul min iiiiiiiiuii,, . VKAti Cim,HTH. Havo the cutlets cut from the fillet about throe-fourths of un inch thick and about as largo as tho palm f you hand : grate some stale bread and rub through a eollander, adding to it salt, pepper, sweet marjoram, grated yellow rind of a lemon, a little powdered iiince, and grilled nutmeg ; spread tins m 11 largo ibtt dish, bent up some eggs, dipping each cutlet into the egg, then into the prepared lireiid, seeinrr Hint n Millii'ient quant ity udhiTes to ouch side f tlio incut: have boiling some sweet bird and it Hinnll quantity of butter added, in which fry your outlets, turning them llii'i'o limes, hut be careful they do not iiini. I'liice 111 a hot and covered dish ; make a gravy by Hifting (lour into the fat iu the pun, siirring until it is a rich brown, when add boiling witter to form the right consistency ; add, lastly, a little chopped parsley and vinegar, and pour, boiling, over the cutlets. Servo at once. CitAzy HiHCtiiT. Three pints of milk, five teaspoonfuls of yeast, one teaspoon ful of salt ; boil the milk, and theu cool, stir in flour, making it a little thicker than pancake batter ; add the salt, and when lukewarm put in the yeast, in tho morning add one egg, half a cupful of sugar, ono teaspoonful of saleratus, mix. and let staud to rise ; when light. make into biscuits ; let rise again, and bake in a medium oven. lict Kid of Weeds. For ridding lawns of unsightly weeds such as plantain and dandelions, the fol lowing plan is recommended by an expe rienced gardener: To the end 01 a light wooden rod attach a small sponge, or, better, wind a few thicknesses of cloth around it, clip the sponge in the oil ol vitriol, and with it touch the heart of the weed. Tho oil of vitriol may be carried in a wide-mouthed bottle, on the end of another rod. The Last Jinn. What will become of the last man ? Various theories that have been serious ly maintained by scientific men are de scribed in the iSc.icntijio American, and the New York Sun summarizes them : The surface of the earth is steadily diminishing, elevated regions are being lowered, and the seas are filling up. The land will at last be all submerged. and the last man will be starved or drowned. 2. The ice is gradually accu mulating nt the North pole and melting away at tho South pole, the consequence of which will be nn awful catastrophe when tho enrth's center of gravity sud denly changes. The last man will then be drowned by the rush of waters. 3. The earth cannot always escopo a col lision with a comet, and when the disas ter comes there will be a mingling oi air nnd cometary gus, causing an explosion. If tho last man is not suffocated he will be blown up. 4. There is a retarding medium in space, causing a gradual loss of velocity in the planets, and the earth, obeying the law of gravitation, will get closer and closer to the sun. Tho last mau will bo sunstruck. 5. The amount of water 011 the eitrth is slowly diminish ing, and simultaneously the air is losing in quantity aud quality. Finally the earth will be an arid waste, like the moon. The last man will be suffocated. 0. Other suns have disappeared, and ours must, sooner or later, blaze up and then disappear. The intense heat of the conflagration will kill every living tiling on earth. The last man will be burned up. 7. The sun's fire will gradu ally burn out, and the temperature will cool. The earth's glacial zones will en large, driving our race toward tho equa tor, until the habitable space will lessen to nothing. The last man will be frozen to death. 8. A gradual cooling of tho earth will produce enormous fissures, like those seen in the moou. The sur face will become extremely unstable. until the remnant of humanity will take refuge in caves. The last man will be crashed in his subterranean retreat. 9. The earth will at last separate into small fiagments, leaving the people without any foothold. The last man will have a dreadful fall through space. 10. The tenth theory, proving that there will be no last man at all, is thus expressed " Evolution does not necessarily imply progress, and possibly the race may have retrograded until the human being pos sesses the nature of tho plant louse; such being the case, this single inhabi tant will spontaneously produce pos terity of both sexes." How the Chinamen Fly Kites. The Virginia (Nev.) Enterprise says " Yesterday noon the residents of the eastern portion of the city were sur prised by the appearance in the heavens of a fiery, flying serpent of immense di mensions. Its head appeared a lurid flame, while its eyes rolled as if in search of victims. Its motions throiiKh the air. as it billowed here and there, were like the contortions of a huge snake. This monster was a Chinese kite. Its head was red paper, with eyes half red ond half white, which rolled as the wind found its way through the apertures representing tne Bockets. This head-kite was followed by eighteen others, about eighteen inches apart, made of tinted paper, oblong in shape, through the center 01 which passed slender rattans. the tips extending some distance on each side, ana trimmea witn tire-red paper lasseis. oimiiar lasseis along the tail and pendant from the head gave the whole an appearance truly startling." "Our Folks." A little girl who sat on the front steps ot a nouse in uetroit was asked by strange girl why she didn't have on a better dress. " I can wear silk if I want to," quietly replied tne ntuo one. " Your folks ain't as rich as them folks ov?r there," sneered the big one. " Yes, wo are, and a good deal richer, They was beating their carpets, yesterduy, and we was beating ours, and we Had twice as much dust aa they did !" Tha' settled the big one and she moved on. "You seem to walk more eroct than usual, my friend." "Yes, I have been straightened by ciroumst&ncei." Thoughts for Saturdny Night. It would be well if we hod less medi cine and more cures ; less cant and more piety ; less law aud more justice. We touch not a wire but it vibrates in eternity, and there is not a voice that reports not at the throne of heaven. Tlio tall mountains are the sublime apostles of nature, whose surplices ore snows, and sermons are avalanches. Cominuno often with yourself. No doubt you might commune with much wiser persons, but with none more profit ably. Give n little to those who ask, even thoui'h vou suspect them to be impos tors. It may not do good to them, but it will to you. Majestically mournful are the words no more."' Thev sound like the roar of the wind through a forest of pines. Beauties often die old maids. They sot such a vuluo on themselves, that they don't find a purchaser until the market is closed. The mind is weak when it has once given way ; it is long ueiore a principle restored can become as firm as one that has never been moved. The man who walks " a thousand miles in a thousand hours " is more gen erally admired than he who walks up rightly through tnree score years anu ten. The expectation of future happiness is the best relief of anxious thoughts, tho most perfect cure of melancholy, the guide of life, aud the comfort of death. Morality without religion is only a kind of dead reckoning an endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea by meas uriiig the distance we have run, and without any observation of the heavenly bodies. Of little human flowers, death gathers many, lie places tnem upon ins Dosom, and lie is transformed into something less tcrriho than before. v e learn to gaze and shudder not, for he carries in his arms the sweet blossom of our earthly hopes. Men glory in raising great and mag nificent structures, and find a secret pleasure to see " sets " of their own planting to grow up and flourish ; but Burely it is a greater and more glorious work to build up a man to see a youth of our own planting, trom the small be ginnings aud advantages we have given him, to grow up into a considerable for tune, and to take root in the world, and to shoot up into such a height ami spread his branches so wide, that we, who first planted him, may ourselves find comtort and shelter under his shadow. The Black Sen. Tho Black sen, which is becoming tlio seeno of stirring events iu the Husso Turkish war, is a remarkable body of water. It is about seven hundred miles long in its longest direction, and has an extreme width of about three hundred aud eighty miles, being three-fourths longer than Lake Superior and moro than twice as wide. Its depth is from fonr to forty-eight fathoms near shore, but in the middle no soundings have been found at ono hundred and sixty fathoms. The greatest depth of Lake superior is two huudred fathoms. Tho Blackjsea is not, like our hikes, a fresh water sea, but on the otlier hand it con tains one-seventh less salt than ocean water, aud is held to receive one-third the ruuuing water of Europe. Tlio puzzle is, what becomes of all this fresh water, and how the Black sea retains its saltness. The sea is tideless. There is no perceptible current toward tho Medi terranean. It has the same level as the sea of Marmora. The outlet by the BoFphorus, even were there a strong current, would be iiisufh3ient to- dis charge the immense volumes of water constantly pouring into the inland sea. and it scarcely seems credible that the evaporation is sufficient to carry off the surplus water. Like our own lakes, it is subject to frequent storms, but naviga- tion is not perilous, and extensive steam navigation is carried on. There are several islands near the mouth of the Danube, but the sea is singularly free from rocks and shoals. The sea of Azov, which is connected with the Black sea by the narrow strait of Yenikalo, is much smaller, being only about one hun dred aud sixty-eight miles long and eighty broad. Its waters are fresh aud abound with fish, but are very shallow. and fall off toward the west into huge marshes, which have been aptly named the Putrid sea. It is of comparatively iiuie importance lor purposes 01 naviga- tion, though it has several ports and roadsteads.' Curious Chinese Feasts. The first day of the New Year's feasts is called by the Chinese Birds' Day (Kay-Yat), and is intended to bring to mind the utility of the feathered tribes as food. On this day the Chinese are expected to abstain from eating flesh, and it is frequently observed as a day of fasting. The second day is Dog's Day (Ku-Yat). According to a Bussiun writer, the Chinese honor the dog so much that they have workmen whose especial business it is to make coffins for dead dogs. They believe that the life of one of their sages was saved by a dog killing and eating the man who attempt ed to murder him, and yet the Chinese eat the flesh of the dog, which they consider a great delicacy. The third day. Hog's Day (Chen-Yat), is celebrated in houor of a hog that drew a valuable manuscript out of a fire. The Chinese honor this animal by making its flesh their principal dish on this festive occasion. The fourth day, Sheep's Day (Yaong-Yat), is specially honored in memory of Pun-Koon-Venga, a shep herd who clothed himself with the bark of trees, and refused to make use of any part of the sheep either for food or clothing. The fifth day is Cow's Day (New Yat). This day is consecrated to the cow that suckled an orphan, who after yard became Mandarin, and built a tem ple in honor of tho cow. Ma-Yat, or Horse Day, tho sixth day, is sot apart to call to mind the usefulness of this animal. Dumb Animals. , " I don't know what you mean by not being an Irishman," said a gentleman who was about hiring a boy, "but you were born in Ireland." "Och, your honor, if that's all," Bnid the t oy, " small blame to that. Suppose your oat was to have kittens in the oveu, would they be loavei of bread?' Items of Interest. An Irish lover remarks ! " It's ft very great . 111m -lian vol pleasure to no nionn, espcciimj nuo- sweetneart is wna ye i In October, electors of Colorado will vote npon the question of conferring the right of sufferage upon women. If the ends of Russian nameB were 10 db chopped "off," the lastsvllable, in many caBes, would bo knocKca " sui uign. A bridegroom over seven feet high is an nounced, and a contemnornrv thinks Blie only married him to go chestnutting with. An old Rcotch woman recommended a preach er who arrived at the kirk wet through to get at onco into the pull it. " Ye ll be dry cnougn there." The married ladies of a Western city have formed a " Cnmo-home-husbaud club. It is about four feet long, and has a brush on the end of it. Mrs. Anthonv Dean, of St. Louis, had four babies at a birth three boys and a girl. They averaged five pounds apiece, and three of them are alive and well. Horrible as it mav sound, we are clad that a war is about to occur in Europe. The Russian and Turkish names w ill kill off the individuals who read aloud in the grocery stores. Baid a faded belle to a fresh young rival : " You arehavimr a creat trial to-mcht. I won der what vonr enemios will say now ? " " I was Just going to ask you," was the keen retort. These big standing shirt collars are all right now, but how will" it be along in dog days? When one of them begins to melt and subside, the owner will think he is being embraced by a weeping clam. "Ah," he said, " another circus in town ; I see the white tent in the distance." He was short sighted, however, and it proved to be nothing but a fashionable young man wearing one of the present style of collars. A youth refused to take a pill. His crafty Ho replied : "Yes, mother ; all but the seed." A wife was enjoined by the doctor to give her husband all the delicacies she could procure, as there was no prospect of his recovery. Then, what's tho use of wasting dainty bits upon him if they won't cure him ?" said tho practical one. In consenuonco of the largo number of hotel clerks aud barbers out of employment this year, it is expected that the rush of Italian counts, lingliBh lords anil foreign noblemen generally, at the watering places this summer, will be larger than ever before known. Nothing undermines one's faith in a man's liberality to the church so much as to see him stick his hands down deep into his pockets as the contribution box is traveling his way, look astonished, aud then remark to bis next neigh bor :"I've got 011 my other pants." ' I never saw such a restless child !" ex claimed tho mother as she tried to fit the boy with a new jacket. The littlo fellow grew quiet and thoughtful for a moment, and then suddenly exclaimed : " I know why I'm so, mn the day God mado mo I guess the dust was flyiug awful." Fighting Rattlesnakes. Arthur and WTilliam McCarty, of tho Shoholn Falls Hotel, eight miles south west of Lackawaxen station, Ta., went trouting in the Taylortown creek, which empties into the Delaware at Carr'H Rock. The settlement of Taylortown is in a donso forest at the foot of high mountains. A short distance below that point they were stopped by the shrill signal of a rattlesnake. Seizing clubs, they started in the direction of the sound, and, walking a few rods, mounted a small ledge of rocks. The noise of rattlesnakes was heard in the brush be neath them. Arthur McCarty leaned over the ledge and saw two monster snakes coiled upon stones, and their tails wriggling fiercely. Taking a roundabout way, tlio men approached them. As they neared them a fierce buzzing broke upon them, and peering through the thicket upon a stony mound, their eyes beheld a terrible picture. The spot was like a black moving mass, so thick were the snakes. Though at first startled, the courage of the fishermen did not fail them. Walking cautiously toward the den, the battle began. The encounter lasted several minutes, and seventy-two of the re2tiles were killed. The remainder, estimated at two hun dred, escaped. Those killed measured from three and a half to four and a half feet in length, aud several had twenty three rattles. The fishermen wore high leather fishing boots, and were several times struck by the reptiles. This deu is about two miles from the celebrated Bald Hill den, at which two New York gentlemen, who were passing through the woods a few years ago, had a desperate encounter and killed nearly three hundred snakes. Although the surrounding country is thickly popu lated, no one was ever known to have been bitten. The Bald Hill den was discovered about fifty years ago, by a hunter named Samuel Helms, who, every spring, would capture a number of the largest snakes, and exhibit them throughout the country. Some of the most noted trout streams of northern Pennsylvania run through this snaky country, and are seldom fished, on ac count of the great number of snakes usually found along the banks of tho streams. Fashion Notes, Steel-finished jet is a high novelty. The latest thing in nets is made of jute. Slippers are fashionable for carriage wear. Undressed kid gloves are the choice for morning wear. Dresses buttoned iu the back suit six teen better than forty. Black satin slippers trimmed with Torchon lace are en regie. A block velvet boot makes the foot look smaller than any other. Some of the new shades of gray silk might be called light blaok. French lace is used on some of the most elegant imported garments. Carved Neapolitan shell jewelry is pre ferred to coral for evening wear. One hundred and forty-four garments is the regulation number for a fashiona ble trousseau. Black silk stockings with red rose- ' buds embroidered upon the hem in floss silk are the most recherche things out. Consolation. The Ohio State Jour nal tells of a village clergymau who, visiting a parishoner suffering from a lingering disease, expressed to his wife a hope that the sometimes spoke to him of the future. I do, indeed, sir," was the reply. Often and often I wakes him in the night and says : " John John, you little think of the torture as is prepared for you,"
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers